South Korea is considering sharing advanced military technology with the US, the UK and Australia through the so-called AUKUS partnership, South Korean Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik said yesterday.
The possibility was discussed during two days of meetings between South Korea and Australia’s defense and foreign ministers that ended in Melbourne yesterday, Shin said.
The US and the UK in 2021 agreed to provide Australia with a fleet of submarines powered by US nuclear technology under the AUKUS agreement to counter a growing military presence from China. AUKUS is an acronym for Australia, the UK and the US.
Photo: AFP
The countries could become involved in cooperation on a wider range of security technologies including artificial intelligence, electronic warfare and hypersonic systems through what is known as AUKUS Pillar II.
Shin welcomed South Korea’s invitation from the three AUKUS partners.
“We do welcome that AUKUS members are considering [South] Korea as an AUKUS Pillar II partner and Korea’s defense science and technology capabilities will contribute to the peace and stability of the development of AUKUS Pillar 2 and regional peace,” Shin said.
Japan is also moving toward formal talks to become part of AUKUS Pillar II’s technology development and sharing.
Australian Minister for Defense Richard Marles welcomed South Korean efforts to build on its relationship with Japan, which along with Australia, the US and India form a security dialogue known as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue.
“We see this is a very, very positive step forward in the strategic landscape of the region and represents a huge opportunity for Australia to engage with both [South] Korea and Japan,” Marles told reporters.
“[South] Korea and Australia are working together to uphold the rules-based order within our region and, in fact, within the world,” Marles added.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
STRAIT OF HORMUZ: In the case of a prolonged blockade by Iran, Taiwan would look to sources of LNG outside the Middle East, including Australia and the US Taiwan would not have to ration power due to a shortage of natural gas, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, after reports that the Strait of Hormuz was closed amid the conflict in the Middle East. The government has secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies for this month and contingency measures are in place if the conflict extends into next month, Kung told lawmakers. Saying that 25 percent of Taiwan’s natural gas supplies are from Qatar, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) asked about the situation in light of the conflict. There would be “no problems” with
RSS